This project clearly establishes a two-way dialogue between the clinic and the square facing it.

Large, vertical, butt-joint glazed window panes without intermediate profiles flood the interior with a diffused northern light and completely open up the façade, allowing for the interior ceiling’s volumetric “game” – formed of prismatic shapes in shades of blue and white – to be viewed from the outside.

This interior-exterior transparency is maintained in the inside spaces, making felt the spatial continuity created by the ceiling’s forms.

The waiting area is accentuated by the warmth of its oak skirting board.

The façade appears dematerialised through the combination of the large glass window panes and a thin coating of panels of mini-wave micro-perforated sheets, made of white-lacquered aluminium. The result is a serene façade amid the surrounding aesthetic chaos.

Indirect lighting towards the façade provides the interior ceilings with a certain sense of lightness and weightlessness.

In Marseilles, A+Architecture has designed one of the highest wooden buildings in France for the CROUS: the Lucien Cornil hall of residence.

This eight-floor student residence is the fruit of a successful environmental and construction period. Its sensitive urban approach makes this 200-room structure a functional building, comfortable and opening out towards the city.

Consisting of three wings, the design benefits from a very high ground floor and attics on the top two levels as well as quality shared spaces. The graduation of the building heights of the project will interact with the surrounding buildings and leave them with space to breath despite the density of the area.

Most of the rooms are directed towards the enclosed garden, a genuinely relaxing indoor garden, on the street side, the openings are positioned along the less noisy alley. In this constricted urban environment, the choice of wood construction (excluding vertical knots) was obvious. Reduction in disruption caused by the works, an optimised schedule, but also a commitment to the comfort of the residence are what convinced the CROUS to embark on the adventure.

Wood is found on all the ceilings and on the walls of the rooms, the latter being sound-proofed. It is also present in the corridors and communal rooms, but not on the facings where its ageing is deemed too visible. Its strong interior presence gives the impression of a warm and relaxing atmosphere with soft acoustics. The wooden shrouds, with cross-laminated assembly, give off a forest scent.

The use of solid wood CLT (Cross Laminated Timber) limits energy consumption and provides an excellent carbon footprint. “The entire building has been designed to be very heat and acoustically efficient, while maintaining consistent lines and at a very competitive price”, states A+Architecture.

The cladding is something else. A perforated curved panel is mixed with large aluminium shingles to mix up the lines, reduce the scale and break-down the volumes. The perforated skin passes in front of a section of wide glazed strips, transforming the building in the evening to a beacon of light in the Marseillaise night.

The landscaped interior garden, mainly pointing towards the city, is given over to meetings, the large piazza connecting with the rue Saint Pierre entrance highlights the carefully preserved majestic pine tree.

The light is magnified everywhere, sometimes filtered behind the perforations of the cladding’s protective cladding sheets or behind the aluminium railings in the upper sections of the communal areas, somewhat generous for the rooms, the blanking is provided by a roller shutter which closes off the entire opening.

In a dense area, the location and choice of space occupied have enabled the communal areas, the circulation areas and the views to provide a functional building that opens up onto the city. The wooden structure combined with a sensitive and functional architecture provides a solution very much of its time; innovative and in-tune with the environment.

West of Gothenburg lies Sweden’s fourth biggest island – Hisingen. Travelling from the centre of Gothenburg towards the western side of Hisingen, you first pass Volvos industrial production units before reaching the coast and the ferry terminal which connects Hisingen to the northern archipelago.

Just north of Hjulvik´s ferry terminal, a shift in the landscape occurs – from Hisingens plains (former seafloor) to Bohusläns coastal landscape with its ancient and sweeping outcrops of gneiss and granite. The last kilometre to the site winds and rises before finally you are rewarded with a great view back towards the ferry terminal. This area is called Hästevik.

The clients for the Plastic house II are the same as for our first built house ten years before – Plastic house I. They have now bought this real estate, some kilometres from the old house, and wanted to complement the existing summer house with a new single-story house. The family has three kids.

Hästevik has, as many areas, been transformed from having mostly summer houses to become a permanent residential area. Building permits have been handed out liberally and small houses have been replaced with bigger ones. The effects on nature have been so considerable that almost no trace of the original coastal character is left. Basements have been sunken into the mountains, crevices and valleys levelled and fundaments introduced, creating terraces and lawns. The sweeping lines and the exposed mountains natural to the West coast have been blown away, bit by bit.

For us, two things were fundamental during the design process of Plastic house II. First to maximize the fantastic view and second to minimize the impact on nature.

We can basically demont the house and the only thing left would be the 19 holes drilled in the mountain for the pillars. To reduce the footprint further the drains have been placed above ground and covered with a layer of earth.

We strove to keep the design simple and at the same time retain a luxurious feel as in the Case Study Houses built in the early fifties in California. A kind of glamour camping. A simplicity and comprehensibility in the built structure but with generous living qualities. At the same time, we tried to build in dissonances both in the material palette and the actual geometric composition, to avoid too much of a classic modernism.

The floor plan is simple – private areas facing east and the public area, with direct access to the adjacent granite rocks, facing west. The division between the two parts lies at the centre of the house, along the longitudinal axis. The public area with kitchen and living room can be separated from the kid’s living area by means of a sliding door.

The house is supported by 19 circular 80 mm columns. Each column is placed in a drilled hole (300 mm deep) and have been fixed with an expanding plaster. The locations and the heights of the columns have been measured in on-site to enable prefabrication before the galvanization. The columns support three HEA 200 beams that support the whole house. All steelwork is galvanized and powder-coated in white. The complete steel construction was carried out in two weeks. On top of the steel a prefabricated wooden frame was mounted in less than three weeks.

The underside of the house has been covered with white perforated corrugated aluminium. Due to the exposed position, all other metal work consists of coated aluminium. The windows have been built with Schücos system. The facade is a development of the system we created for Plastic house I. A façade with 5 mm opak PMMA is taped with velcro acrylic foam tape mounted on standing sheet metal studs, to avoide exposed fixings and to handle the thermal expansion. The sheets can then easily be demounted if need of replacement.

The ideas that promoted took the aesthetic decisions of this project are related to the intention to reinterpret the uses of the neighbourhood and the aesthetic functional expectations of the owner. Until some decades ago the area where the work was implanted was filled with mechanical workshops, industrial sheds and workshops of heavy and light smithy. Some of them survive the passage of time and are known in the area. The owner, naturally had expressive intentions linked to industrialization, to the idea of “loft” and rationalized construction. This diversity of spices is joined to generate a single unifying concept. What was a concept today is this work: low maintenance, wide and flexible spaces, industrial language but avant- garde composition, die of uses and adaptability of growth, of minimalist and conceptual volumetric , articulated, of used spare parts in automotive mechanics but of architectural innovation, of intentional rusticity and precision sought, of external coldness and interior warmth; and ever changing facade.

We use low maintenance materials such as concrete, from demolition, which was not revoked; not only for the economy of resources but also as a compositional argument, to exalt the expressiveness of material ( cultural material par excellence in the construction of our country). The outer cladding is made up of fixed and folding panels of galvanized micro- perforated sheet that not only fulfils its function as a system of darkening and security, but also provides a constant variation in the facade according to how with the passage of time. The interior floors are made of similar porcelain wood that fits perfectly to the functional diversity of interiors and balconies. The nucleus of services is transvestite in plates of wood veneer, which coats with warmth but contrasts with the concrete of the ceiling. The floating top box is covered with black veneer and the entire volume is completely dry. Some finishes are precision (blacksmithing, aluminium, wood and glass), while others are rather rustic (concrete and plaster).

Known for being the epicentre of a bohemian explosion in the city, with a crowd of multiple nationalities, this neighbourhood remains home to writers, painters, musicians, philosophers and psychoanalysts.

It’s implanted on a land of 8 x 30 located in the street El Salvador. A mixed program was proposed that includes three levels of offices, two levels of housing and a commercial space on the ground floor. Achieving the flexibility it required was the biggest challenge due to the limited measure of the site. The building is composed of a single volume composed of a central nucleus of services. This volume contains 2 units per plant, one to the front and another to the quiet part of the building, each with its own expansion with grills and thermal conditioning facilities. Removed from the front line, a floating box, acts as a finish, disarticulating the continuity of the facade and showing a program differentiated for the las levels. The ground floor is semi- free and connects the parking spaces, the lateral pedestrian access and the commercial premises to the street.

In the first 3 floors it was decided to place the offices as the most operational and most influential units. It was decided to maintain a totally free plant composition in which the possibility of separating or unifying units to adapt to the needs of the different occupants that inhabit them. In the 2 upper levels, away from a high vehicular and pedestrian road, are the duplex houses with a quieter and secluded character. The units have a first floor containing the most public areas; integrated kitchen, dining and living, and a second floor with the intimate area; the bedrooms and services. On the roof the solarium is located, open and flexible, allows the possibility of creating a green sector or an endless pool with open views of the city. The consumers of these new typologies are generally professional with design, independent professionals and local residents of the middle and upper class who are attracted by the young and innovate air that permeates the area.

From Ghent’s ring road the first sight of the hospital AZ Sint-Lucas one gets is the multi-storey car park. For this reason the design devotes a lot of attention to the atmosphere and appearance of the site. The project zone is split into two parts, with the high capacity car park distributed over two buildings. This creation of two smaller buildings is effective within the spatial context and the granular size of the hospital campus, and creates a visual axis leading to the hospital.

The visual axis between the two car parks extends to the edge of the site and is designed as an avenue. On arrival the building opens itself to the visitor entering the car park via a clear entrance and exit location. Patients have direct car access and can be driven around the car park and dropped off at the entrance of the hospital. Motorists can follow a traffic loop to either return to the ring road or leave their vehicle in the car park. Direct access to the hospital is restricted to emergency services and a drop-off point under the “Oost” building, thus creating a low-traffic square for visitors, patients, and hospital employees to meet and linger.

Where the traffic loop runs under the Oost building, pedestrians from the different levels in the car park descend via stairs and lifts, thus creating a covered hotspot. Here there is a bicycle park as well as ATMs, toilets, a waiting room, and a storage room for wheelchairs available for patients on arrival. The ground levels of the buildings Oost and West provide a clear height of four meters, both to allow redesignation and to reserve certain areas for exceptional traffic such as ambulances, vans for maintenance personnel, and for parking for disabled persons, doctors, radiotherapy patients, etc. From the ground levels, access to the hospital is step-free.

Stylistically the preference is given to an open building design. Juxtaposed with the tight grid of the parking spaces, the floorboards with flowerbeds fan out to humanize the otherwise functional concept. Guardrails designed and executed in perforated aluminium plates bring contrast to the massiveness of the project. Green is used at different levels and with different objectives in the design; at ground level a number of trees and islands of green are provided. Trees provide shade and cooling, and increase the biodiversity in an urban landscape. Where the sprawling floor plates are located, there are also potted trees. The building is part of the ‘greening’ of the site.

This ten-storey office building opened at the beginning of the 1990s as the ‘Lahmeyer-Haus’. Like many buildings from that time, the increasingly sophisticated demands of tenants and Frankfurt’s oversaturated business real estate market quickly rendered the building no longer competitive. It stood empty for many years until project developer Phoenix Real Estate recognised its attractive position in Frankfurt’s Westend and decided to completely gut and revitalise the building. Since Phoenix itself rents office space in the building for its Frankfurt branch, the brief was simple: “to build the best house in the respective market segment”. Our studio was commissioned to design the entrance lobby and the access and supply cores for all storeys, as well as interior architecture for two rented offices.

The impressive lobby serves as a shared business card for all the different tenants. It stands out in a striking way from the lobby architecture that dominates much of Frankfurt. The height of the compact, two-storey room is exaggerated by means of a wall design composed of vertical lamellae. The lamellae are staggered at irregular intervals, giving the walls a dynamic progression. Moreover, concealed interstitial absorption fields ensure unexpectedly warm acoustics.

The ceiling is formed by a suspended, polygonal, folded element of glossy, polished stainless steel, which further elevates the room. Spots set in the gap between the ceiling and the lamellae illuminate the wall elements from above. The light source remains invisible, so the walls appear to magically glow. Light points are formed at the top edges of the lamellae, an effect that appears even larger and brighter in reflection on the ceiling. Moreover, the folded ceiling creates new and surprising effects depending on the perspective of the beholder.

Three sculptural objects in the entrance area pick up on the shape of the ceiling element: a letterbox located in front of the building, an upholstered seating element and a reception desk of black and white solid surface.

The lobby provides an unrestricted view of the lifts. The access and supply core located around the lift shaft is identical on all floors. Viewed from the outside, this area is completely panelled with walnut veneer lamellae, thus offering a warmer variation on the sophisticated theme from the lobby. The overlap of the individual lamellae renders the doors to adjacent areas invisible, thus creating the impression of a homogenous, wooden corpus. A circumferential light strip further emphasises its monolithic form. Access to the lifts is incised into this corpus, and the area within is panelled in floor-to-ceiling tiles. Here wooden pilaster strips run down the walls like veins, making the walls appear as cross-sections cut through the room.

Acoustically functioning, fully accessible metal lamella ceilings of anodised aluminium are installed in the corridors and in the atrium to the lifts.

Office Phoenix Real Estate

Project developer Phoenix was greatly impressed by the concept, location and success of SOLOWEST, so chose to move its Frankfurt office into the building. The interior design of its office was to be closely tied to the company’s history and self-image.

The office is presented as a high-quality, open space. Clear office architecture on a white background offer a tantalising contrast to the warm wooden panelling of the building’s access core. This effect is heightened by three display cases, opulently filled with tropical, jungle-like vegetation. In addition to making a surprising and decorative impression, they also make humorous reference to the processes in the industry itself, as well as to the project developer’s and its customers’ hopes and desires inherent in the projects under development.

Neon lettering fronts each perfectly arranged artificial flower backdrop, with a line from a Beatles song to suit each room: “Eight days a week” in the director’s office, “We can work it out” in the conference rooms and “Here comes the sun” in front of the secretary’s office. The Beatles theme comes from an anecdote from the founding days of the company when, as a joke, the four managing directors worked out which of the four band members they each most resembled. A further tongue-in-cheek reference can be found in the WCs, where a phoenix ascends from a stylised cage into a cone of light projected on the rear wall.

The rooms that lead from the reception area are not hermetically sealed, but remain visible thanks to the display cases and floor-to-ceiling glass façades. A further layer is created in front of the glass walls by cupboards fronted in acoustically absorbent, micro-perforated artificial leather.

A series of large-format photos was compiled to decorate the office walls. The highly associative images refer to the self-image of the company (a small bird that tackles tough challenges like a cactus), its origins (the broom as a synonym for Stuttgart’s famous ‘sweeping week’) and its business (Chuck Norris, the polar bear). Most of the photos are not permanently installed and can be freely recombined to make new backdrops in the individual rooms.

Ippolito Fleitz Group GmbH

The overall result is a spatial ambience in dialogue between the rationality of a clear, precise and transparent architecture and the emotionality of warm materials and surprising, humorous elements such as the display cases and images. The office is transformed into an open narrative, an invitation to discuss topics, desires and the working practices of the project developer. It thus becomes a mirror of the personality of the company and its stakeholders, and its narrative can be reinterpreted and reinvented time and time again by each of its four managing directors.

Ippolito Fleitz Group GmbH

Egon Zehnder International

Egon Zehnder is a globally operating personnel consultancy, specialised in placing high-level executives in top positions. Its Frankfurt branch moved into three and a half floors in SOLOWEST. In addition to developing a new office layout and overall renovation, we were also commissioned to design a reception area on the ninth floor. The customers are received at a long reception counter: A wooden structure is mounted on an offset natural stone plinth, leaving an unrestricted view of Frankfurt’s skyline through the expanse of window behind. The free structure of the counter formulates an inviting gesture, signalling openness and transparency to its customers. As Egon Zehnder regularly invites top managers to recruitment discussions, discretion is always key. To enable discussions to be held in parallel, two waiting areas were created without any visual interaction between them. An employee ‘living room’ was also created on this floor, with a library, dining table and lounge area.

With the revitalisation of this rather outmoded Frankfurt office block, the investor Phoenix is aiming to appeal to a new target group with more prestigious aspirations. For the realignment of SOLOWEST we have created spaces with high-quality materials and an elegant accentuation in the design of all public areas. This high standard also explains the fact that the entire redevelopment was given a LEED gold certification for sustainable construction.

At the heart of Mediterranean, Antalya carries the trace of ancient history surrounded with a splendid natural beauty. With a prospective climatic state and an average temperature of 35°C and 300 day a year being sunshine, Antalya becomes one of the vibrant touristic city in the world.

Focused on botanic, EXPO 2016 Antalya along with the motto “A green life for future generation” adopted the theme as “Flowers and Children”. Along with its motto and the theme a master plan layout was drawn on an area of 1,100,000 m² (110 h). According to the functional layout the location was seeking for an iconic Tower to represent the event. An architecture competition was opened to design the tower.

Initial idea was focused on a symbolic tower to represent the theme “Flower and Children” and to merge with the given master plan for the event. And a goal was set to reveal the traces of Antalya with strong yet modest lines.

The tower features a circular view deck with a 360° view giving a splendid vista of EXPO site and the beauty of Antalya floods on the background. Placed on 101m above ground level the deck allocates indoor and outdoor spaces for the visitors by allocating a space of 1500 m².

CIRCULATION

Three vertical circulation placed on equal distance carries the major function of panoramic elevator, fire exit and a service elevator.

FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION

Three major circulations merges with three open petals enclosing viewer deck at the peak, indicates the well-known Hadrian’s gate in Antalya.

View deck usage was focused on various season and weather conditions. The tower opens a wide open deck on +101.40 level, while forming an open roof top view deck with a splendid vista. The spaces deep volume spaces below roof top, are brighten with the openings brought up on the view deck floor. The Aluminium structure forms the façade skin and controls day light into the space.

The project was to renovate and extend the University’s Victorian Chapel. Originally built in 1880, and then extended in 1927, the Chapel is used for a number of different events and purposes: services, group meetings, concerts and as a place of quiet contemplation.

In 2015 the University commissioned Design Engine Architects to oversee a complete restoration of its internal and external fabric. In addition, the University asked for an extension to the chapel, to include a small side chapel and a social and meeting space. The brief was to create a very special project, to sit as a small ‘jewel’ in the heart of the campus.

The interior of the original gothic revival chapel has been returned to its former glory with renovation work to the walls and timber ceiling alongside the introduction of new oak and stone floors, heating and architectural lighting. The university has chosen locally sourced Purbeck limestone, a material traditionally used for its decorative quality in churches and cathedrals across England, exploiting the natural characteristics of the embedded fossils within it.

The original tiled frieze and angels on the Eastern wall has been restored behind the reinstated chancel steps. A new contemporary altar has been introduced, made from 7 horizontal sections of Purbeck stone. The seven sections make reference to number imagery within the Christian faith, as well as a celebration of the university’s anniversary; the stone sections also representing the seven 25 year time periods that make up the 175 years of the institution.

A new font has also been commissioned greeting visitors on entering from the South door. Designed to reflect light within the interior spaces, the font basin, made from highly polished stainless steel, is a section of a sphere, a reference to “light of the world”. The basin is supported on a polished Purbeck limestone cylindrical plinth.

A number of bespoke oak furniture pieces were commissioned from and designed in collaboration with Luke Hughes, most notably the oak pews, lecturn, credenza storage units, bookcases and tables.

The obvious location for the extension was to the north of the main Chapel; despite the site constraints, the resulting design is an empathetic response to the gothic revival building where its connection, form and materiality seem both intuitive and exciting.

The design consists of a pitched roof structure that mirrors that of the existing building and allows light to penetrate into the perimeter exterior spaces. The ridge over-sails the existing building eaves line creating a clerestory window that provides both light and ventilation at high level. The plan form creates a twist in the pitched roof bringing an intriguing geometric dynamic to the new addition.

The form lent itself to a timber frame structure – a series of primary wall and roof trusses, each one different to create the changing form. Externally, the form is clad with perforated aluminium panels, anodized to give a highly reflective ‘gold’ finish, giving a dramatic textural surface to the building that is continuous over both roof and wall, allowing the building to be interpreted at different distances and scales. Design Engine developed a pattern referential to the existing architecture and an interpretation appropriate for the 21st century.

On a corner plot of the former Uhlan barracks in the Derendorf district of Dusseldorf stands the building ensemble Clara & Robert, by slapa oberholz pszczulny architekten, which links the two new buildings with the historical Saarhaus.

The Wilhelmine barracks, erected in 1890 and currently among the largest remaining barracks facilities in the Rhineland, were given new life through comprehensive renovation and expansion. The Clara & Robert office complex builds on the location’s architectural history, while the preservation of the expressive Saarhaus, which is being integrated into one of the new buildings, restores the link to the former barracks.

The name and inspiration for the two angular, interlocking, L-shaped buildings, which boast around 16,800 m2 of rentable space, were the composer couple Clara and Robert Schumann, who lived in Dusseldorf in the middle of the 19th century. The vertical slits in the polished natural aluminium building envelope recall old perforated-metal music discs used to record sound for mechanical musical instruments around the beginning of the last century. The material’s matte shine lends the façade a discreet reflective quality, allowing the changing light conditions to project a myriad of different moods onto the building.

The largely visible yellow-brick façade of the historical Saarhaus is framed by the protruding shell of one of the new buildings. A monolithic Corten steel box, the colour of which samples the old brick, contrasts while expanding the old building by two storeys, thereby establishing architectural relationship with the new complex. The resulting flat-roof construction offers space for attractive rooftop terraces.

The main entrance areas are fronted with an expansive glass façade. All window installations are furnished sun-screening systems. Both 7-storey office buildings possess a flexible floor-plan structure, which guarantees the integration of variously sized rental units. The office space is variably divisible on all floors, and can accommodate all conceivable types of tenants, from individual and group offices to combined-use zones and open spaces. The underground levels, which link the two buildings to one another, are used for technical facilities, storage and a car park with around 300 parking spots.

The grounds around the building have been intensively planted and provide space for fully paved access routes and generous driveways. The property’s existing trees that were able to remain were integrated into green islands, emphasising the history of the location.

In December 2016 Clara & Robert was awarded by the ministry for building and accommodation and the chamber of architect in North Rhine-Westphalia as one of the best architectural urban office projects in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

For over 25 years, architects J.M. Slapa, H. Oberholz and Z. Pszczulny have been developing and realising joint projects for administrative, commercial, industrial and residential purposes, including airports and sports stadiums. Based in Düsseldorf with some 90 employees, the international architecture firm of sop architekten is committed to a clear and timeless architectural language as well as a holistic approach to their constructions, down to the last detail. This includes urban planning analyses as well as the revitalisation of existing properties, professional execution planning and construction management, sophisticated interior design or taking the lead in sustainable construction.

With buildings such as the Gap 15, the Hyatt Hotel in Media Harbour, the Esprit Arena or the new Dusseldorf Airport, sop architekten have heavily influenced the face of Dusseldorf. The Orjin Maslak business centre in Istanbul and Wroclaw’s UEFA Euro 2012 football stadium are two of the firm’s successful international endeavours.

Skateboarding was banned in Norway on 1 September 1978, with the intention of preventing serious accidents. This did not discourage the skateboarders, and the skateboarding scene grew steadily. When the ban was lifted in 1989 the interest exploded. Skateboarders went from being lawbreakers to celebrities and youth idols. In January 2017, 28 years after the ban was lifted, Oslo finally got its own custom-built venue for the today a well-established sport. Oslo Skatehall stands now as the best custom-designed skatepark, and one of the largest of its kind in northern Europe.

The architectural signature of the building is conceptually rooted in the elements and movement of skateboarding, thus exposing the hall’s function. The structure is dominated by two distinct and contrasting volumes, one light and one dark, which share the same architectonic language. These two structural elements form cantilevers, inclined in opposite directions to the underlying terrain. Raised in the east and west, they create dynamic diagonal lines in the landscape.

Each cantilever has broad borders of golden metal sheeting, accentuating the dramatic forms and providing frames to the large, glass panels. Visual contact between interior and exterior is maintained through these glass facades, presenting a tantalizing impression of the building from a distance and allowing viewers outside to follow the action inside. The connection between interior and exterior space, coupled with good legibility in the layout, create a sense of security, clarity and order. The spacious dimensions of the hall give participants and spectators full access to the activities, which can even be observed from the café, making this an attractive vantage point.

The skatehall is situated in a prime location, surrounded by large outdoor recreational areas in Voldsløkka, part of Oslo’s Sagene district. The main entrance faces west and leads directly into the lobby and café, which are clearly visible through the glass façade in the south-west corner of the building. The huge cantilevered elements create a natural shelter over the entrance and outdoor seating area. In the summer months, the café opens up to this outside space and invites you to sit in the sun at tables or in the concrete amphitheatre which is set into the hillside beyond. To the east of the building, a terraced skatepark connects the different levels of the terrain, linking the concrete park at the base to Voldsløkka’s prime walking path at the top. From the amphitheatre and walking path, skating activities outside in the park and inside the hall can be experienced simultaneously. When the gates and doors are opened, these interior and exterior skating spaces become fully connected. This distinctive feature of the building creates unique possibilities for major events and competitions. The dramatic lines of the structure are echoed in the outside facilities, which respond to the landscape, connecting with the wider spaces of the recreational area.

Oslo Skatehall is primarily intended for general use but boasts an international standard suited to major competitions. Inside, the hall consists of two tall storeys, where the programs are adapted to the functions of skating. This allows the hall to accommodate all the different types of skating under one roof. Variation and flow are guiding design principles in the complex layout. Input from skaters themselves, both young and old, has assisted the architects in finding the best solutions for infrastructure and design. The main skating activity is situated on the lower level, which features a high ceiling giving ample space to custom-built skating elements. These were designed and constructed jointly by Glifberg+Lykke and IOU Ramps. A unique feature of Oslo Skatehall is the raised bowl, constructed in wooden materials. The structural elements of this burgeoning organic form can also be viewed from underneath. On the upper level, a separate viewing gallery spans the entire length of the hall, allowing spectators a clear overview of skating activities below. Visitors can play TV games, watch YouTube clips and edit films in the combined activity and media room. This space can also be used to hold seminars or host visits from kindergartens and schools.

There is a raw honesty to the materials selected, which creates variation in the surfaces and structures. Perforated aluminium sheeting in dark and light nuances covers the facades, ornamented with a surface pattern of Morse code symbols. These are a literal transcription of the 1978 law forbidding the use, sale and advertising of skateboards, commemorating the history of skateboarding in Norway. Morse code symbols also feature in the café and service areas but here the patterns convey slang terms and tricks used by the skating community.

The hall has been constructed in accordance with Passive House standards, with a focus on recycled materials, life-cycle costs (LCC), air circulation and sustainable energy sources. The end result is a holistic expression of function and space, in which impressive static spaces alternate with effective evacuation routes. Visible construction details have been integrated into the overall design, as a feature in their own right. Building information modelling (BIM) has enabled all participants in the project to collaborate successfully, from service providers, management teams, contractors and advisors down to the actual users of the facilities, each contributing their individual expertise. This collaborative approach has allowed us to achieve the best solutions to the challenges that arose during the planning and construction process; mutual dedication to quality from all involved is central in the successful result we see today.

Oslo Skatehall is a salute to youthful values, its fully-integrated holistic design oriented towards the future. The interaction of the building mass with the outdoor venues and surrounding park landscape are symbolic of the interaction between different generations of users, both performers and spectators, now and for many years to come.